


Defying Fate

by pudding_bretzel



Category: Batman - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batman: A Death in the Family, Because I can't go one single fic without them, Bruce is a good dad, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hugs, Jason survives, Mutants, One-Shot, There are no X-Men in this, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 05:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16487090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pudding_bretzel/pseuds/pudding_bretzel
Summary: Bruce races to safe his son. But not even his best efforts seem to be enough. The universe is determined to rip one of the most important things away from him. Or at least that's what he thought when the warehouse blew up in hot flames.Or: A slightly different take on A Death in the Family in a universe where things like almost dying can safe you from horrible things like, let's say dying for example.





	Defying Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Why are there so few X-Men crossover fics in the Batman fandom? No matter the reason, here's my contribution. Just a small one-shot, but I hope you like it either way!

He knew it was a bad idea to leave Jason alone.

It had been a stupid decision that could cost him everything if he wasn’t fast enough. And to be completely honest – he wouldn’t make it at this rate.

Bruce drove the ATV through the dunes of the Ethiopian desert at full speed. The fine sand shot up high in the air, drumming against the vehicle’s bottom and sides. It took all of his remaining concentration to focus on driving and not getting stuck in the dry sand.

Every other thought he could spare was solely focused on his son. 

His son, who was at the mercy of a deranged clown and fighting for his life.

No matter what, he couldn’t allow himself to be too late.

Finally, in the far off distance the warehouse he knew Jason to be in came into view. He revved up the engine, closing in on the building as fast as possible.

And then, at last, he arrived at the warehouse. He jumped out of the car, ignoring the nagging voice of the Batman, telling him to be cautious and take in his surroundings before making any rash moves.

The father in him took control, fear for his son’s live overwriting everything else, as he ran up the rest of the way to the building, calling out for his son only seconds before searing heat surrounded him. He was thrown back down the small hill, parts of the warehouse raining down on him accompanied with flames and copious amounts of rubble.

He didn’t feel the impact of landing on the sand but he felt the throbbing of his head – the throbbing of his whole body, to be precise – when he regained consciousness only moments later.

His ears rang, the high-pitched note that resounded in his head disorienting him. He slowly turned his head, only to see nothing but rubble, smoke and flames. There was only destruction. With aching arms, he turned onto his stomach and pushed himself upwards. Luckily, as far as he could tell he had no major injuries from the explosion. Small cuts and bruises from the fall and the splintering wood. He’d been far enough away from the-

His head shot up abruptly, his sluggish mind finally registering what had just happened.

An explosion.

The warehouse his son was in, had just exploded into thousand tiny bits and pieces, flames eating away at what was left and smoke covering the air around him.

“No.” His voice sounded alien to his aching ears, quivering and barely there. Just a shadow of his usual baritone.

He pushed himself up, turning around and moving towards the hill. His wobbly legs barely carried him, his ringing ears making it even harder to stay upright. But slowly the ringing grew weaker, the crackling fire reaching through the deafness.

“Jason!” His scream resounded in his head, reminding him of a probable concussion he had sustained in his fall. Ignoring the pain and unsteadiness of his body he climbed up the hill, coming to an abrupt stop when he reached the top. 

Wide eyes covered by a cowl stared into the chaos before him. There was barely anything left of the warehouse. The roof was completely gone, walls blasted away, metal beams standing askew, shards of glass lying in the sand, mixed with tons and tons of rubble. The flames were even bigger and hotter here, heat whipping against what little of his face was revealed. 

“No, no, no,” he whispered, barely aware of the words leaving his mouth. “Jason!” This time it was less of a scream and more of a broken plea. A broken plea from a broken man.

This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be too late. He just- he couldn’t. 

Suddenly he felt sand under his knees, not even realizing as his legs buckled beneath him, leaving him kneeling and sobbing into the desert sand.

He didn’t want to – _couldn’t_ – accept what had happened. His son couldn’t possibly be inside this sea of flames. Maybe he’d been wrong, maybe it wasn’t this warehouse he was in. Maybe, just maybe-

 _What other reason could there be to have a warehouse explode right in front of your nose_ , Batman’s cold voice cut in.

And he was right, Bruce knew he was. But even only imagining Jason’s body writhing in pain in the hot flames had his throat closing up and more tears streaming down his face. They escaped from under his cowl and revealed the grieving man behind the mask in a way one scarcely saw from the Batman. 

Suddenly, Bruce felt the flames before him growing in intensity. Arms of scorching heat reaching for him. But before he could even react and back away, there was another shockwave. There was barely anything left of the former warehouse, but the bit that was, burst outward, flying over Bruce’s head while he pressed himself into the sand as best as he could. The rubble hadn’t fully flown past Bruce, when the flames suddenly reached back towards the center of the warehouse, as if being sucked in by something. 

With wide eyes, Bruce watched as the last of the flames disappeared and the only thing left to remind of a fire was the smoke in the air and the ash strewn about the sand. 

Bruce stayed still where he laid on the ground. He’d seen enough things like these to know that this had been nothing natural. He knew what the supernatural looked like, especially so close up. He listened into the heavy silence, cautiously pushing himself up into a crouching position.

That was when, suddenly, a noise reached his ears. For a moment he didn’t recognize the noise for what it was, his ears still sore from the explosion. But once he did he quickly stood and with careful steps made his way towards the rubble. The noise grew louder, guiding him towards its origin.

It was the soft crackling of fire, one that reminded of a bonfire in a warm summer night rather than the raging flames from before. But more important than the fire was the other sound that broke through in-between. 

Hitched breaths, whimpers and low murmurs. 

Reaching the source of the sound, Bruce froze. 

There, in the midst of the rubble knelt a human figure, covered in flames. They were crouched down, holding themselves around the waist in a tight hug and rocking back and forth. At first their words had been nothing more but soft murmurs reaching Bruce, but the closer he got the better he could understand them.

And what he heard made him freeze anew.

“I don’t want this,” were the soft-spoken words that reached his ears, “no.” A keening escaped their mouthed as they continued their rocking motion, flames slowly dying.

To his own surprise it wasn’t the fire, nor the words that shook Bruce. It was the voice.

Before he could stop himself and think, he spoke with the same broken voice he’d had since his arrival. “… Jason?” He didn’t know if he wanted to be right with his assumption or not, but this would still be better than the alternative. 

Right?

The head of the figure shot up, locking their gaze with Bruce’s and as if to confirm his suspicions the dying flames crept back, revealing fearful blue eyes watching him intently. Black hair was burned away, at some parts more, at some less. Wounds, the figure was covered in healed, cuts knitting themselves back together even as they looked at each other. 

It was only a short moment, but for Bruce it had felt like an eternity in which he took in the figure in front of him. 

“B?” The quivering sound of the figure's voice woke him from his stupor and as the rest of the flames finally died and revealed a body covered in soot and blood and a mostly burned away red and green and yellow uniform, the uncertainty died with them. 

Jason stayed cowered on the ground, seemingly unable to move a muscle and shivering despite the hot flames that had covered him only moments prior. But he didn’t need to move, as Bruce beat him to it.

In a few quick steps he was next to his son and knelt down, gathering his mostly naked form into his arms. With another quick motion he unfastened his cape and draped it around Jason’s shivering body and held him close. 

“Everything’s going to be okay, Jay,” he said, his voice slowly but surely regaining its usual steadiness. Because how could it not. He was holding his son in his arms - alive - had he not a few minutes before thought him dead. 

“B,” Jason mumbled into his shoulder, voice still quivering and thick with fear, “I don’t want this.” His hands curled into fists, holding the cape closer to himself and softly shaking his head. “I don’t want to be one of t-them.”

Bruce’s arms tightened around his son. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” _Not a second time_ , he added in thoughts. 

If he was honest with himself, he didn’t know if everything would be okay. He had no idea what the future would hold with Jason being one of them. Being a _mutant_. But nothing could suppress the happiness he felt in that moment. Because despite everything - despite him failing - he hadn’t lost his son today. 

He hadn’t lost Jason. And he would do anything it took, to keep it that way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Maybe leave some kudos if you liked it? They really make my day, just like your comments, so don't hesitate to leave one as well!  
> You can also find me on [tumblr](https://pudding-bretzel.tumblr.com/).


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